Superstar
by Dark Action Girl
Summary: AU. Naruto, one of the most popular television shows in the country is in need of a new leading lady. Who better for the role than the talented, aspiring actress Sakura Haruno? But how will she adjust to her new life in Hollywood, surrounded by other teen celebrities? Sakura now must figure out who's a friend, a foe...and a potential boyfriend? NaruSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Well then, this here is my first fic. Yay! I've had this idea since forever now, so it's nice to get it out. I already have a few chapters written, so if people seem to like this, I'll keep posting.**

**Now a little warning. I'm not an actress or anything close to one. I have no idea how auditions or anything like that works, so forgive any unrealistic depictions in this first chapter. We just need to get that out the way now so we can get to the interesting stuff :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

"Sasuke can't be far," Naruto stated as they walked through the dark corridors of the underground base. He was walking with his teammates. Sai, on his left and Ami, on his right.

"What do you plan to do when you find him?" Sai asked.

Naruto clenched his first as he spoke. "I'm going to drag his butt back to Konoha."

"But he's just a traitor, why so much effort for him?"

"Hey! Don't talk about Sasuke like that!" Ami scolded. "He's our friend."

Naruto nodded in agreement. Sai just shrugged. He didn't understand the attachment they held with the traitor. He hurt them and yet they still called him a friend.

They ran through the base and scoured the halls for their old teammate. Endless halls and countless doors. Eventually they split up to cover more ground.

Hours could have passed and yet Ami found nothing. After running down hall after hall and checking each door, she came to a long narrow hall. Far ahead she saw Sai in a clearing, looking up at something. She went up to him and stopped next to the painter. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Ami," said an icy voice, causing her to freeze.

She slowly turned to her left and her eyes widened. Upon seeing the source of the voice all she could do was whisper, "Sasuke..."

Naruto entered the hall, barely catching Ami's faint whisper. His eyes narrowed and he began to run. His feet hit against the stone floors, his steps echoing off the walls. His leg gave out and he fell over from exhaustion, but he wasn't giving up. Naruto quickly got back to his feet and continued running down the hall. When he reached the end of the tunnel the sunlight momentarily blinded him. He stood next to his teammates as he looked up and saw who they were looking for.

"Sasuke," he breathed out upon seeing his old friend after two and a half years.

Sasuke stood tall on a cliff looking down at the three. His face was frigid and he looked completely unfazed by his old team's arrival. "Naruto's here too," he said calmly.

Sai readied himself to fight. Sasuke scoffed. "So is he my replacement? He was just going on about protecting the bonds between me and Naruto. One more pansy for the group," he said coldly, "I've already severed my bonds."

Naruto was enraged. "If you severed your bonds...then why didn't you kill me back then!"

Sasuke's expression didn't change as he spoke smoothly. "I merely spared you on a whim of mine." He disappeared and reappeared in front of Naruto with his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Come to think of it, wasn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours? If you have the time to chase me around, you would have been better off training."

Ami looked at him with shock. "Sasuke!"

He continued talking as though it were only him and Naruto. "And now you're going to lose your life, all on a whim of mine," he finished as he unsheathed his sword from his back.

"You're right. Someone who can't save a friend could never become Hokage, don't you think, Sasuke?" Naruto replied unmoving.

Sasuke brought his sword around to pierce Naruto, but Sai grabbed his arm. The blond ninja grabbed Sasuke's other arm, keeping him still. Seeing her chance, Ami pulled out a kunai and ran at Sasuke with her weapon out, ready to take her old teammate down. But before she could deliver a blow, Sasuke emitted a chidori, throwing both Naruto and Sai back, freeing the rogue ninja. Ami had frozen in front of him, her brown eyes locked with his black ones. Time had paused just for a moment.

And then without hesitation, Sasuke plunged his sword forward into Ami's abdomen.

"Ami!" Naruto yelled out.

She let out a cry of pain as he pulled the sword from her body. Sasuke distanced himself from the squad as Naruto and Sai ran to the girl's aid as she fell to the ground. He gave them all one last malicious look before disappearing.

Naruto set her on his lap as tears flooded his eyes. "I'm sorry...I wasn't much help..." she struggled out. Blood flowed from her wound and rain started to come down, soaking her asymmetrical purple hair. "Promise...to bring him back."

"Ami, I promise. If it's the last thing I do, I _will_ bring Sasuke back to Konoha," Naruto vowed, tears still falling from his eyes. Ami let out her last breath, closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Naruto hugged her body close to his and silently sobbed.

"That's a wrap! Good work, people!" shouted the director from his chair just a few feet from the actors. The cameramen walked away from their cameras and started drinking coffee and eating donuts that were on the table for the crew.

Ami opened her eyes and quickly pushed Naruto off her. "Get off, you idiot!" she yelled. She got to her feet, brushing her clothes off.

Naruto glared at her back as she sashayed off the set. She bumped shoulder with Sasuke as she passed him, then yelled a few choice words at him as well.

He ignored her and walked over to Naruto, offering him a hand. "Thanks," said Naruto, taking his friend's hand and getting up.

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde. "So I'm guessing you went through with breaking up with Ami."

"Yeah. Didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped," he said. "But seriously, what was I supposed to do? It's not like I wanted to end it, but..." He drifted and looked in the direction she left.

Sasuke put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You made the right choice. Besides, if it's any consolation..."

"What?"

Sasuke smirked. "Ami is a bitch."

Naruto gave a small, sad smile and they walked off the set to their separate trailers to change out of their ninja attire.

Inside the director's office was a royally pissed Ami. She slammed her hands on his desk as she yelled at him, "You can't do this!"

The director just crossed his arms. "Yes, I can. We just filmed you're last scene and you are now officially no longer an actress on this show."

"I made this show! I've been here since I was 12, putting up with the idiots you hire, giving this show the best years of my life! Now that I'm gone you're going to lose all your ratings. You can't just get rid of the leading actress like this," she bellowed.

She couldn't believe they cut her from the show. _Naruto _was the highest rated show in both the U.S. and across seas in Japan, not to mention in the top ten for ratings in various other countries across South America, Europe, and Asia. There wasn't a home alive that hadn't heard of _Naruto_ some way or another. When they told Ami she was being killed off, she was livid. She even tried to convince Naruto to quit unless they rewrote her back into the series, but to no avail. Naruto, her boyfriend for two years, broke up with her rather than quit the show. She couldn't believe how selfish he was being.

And because of her contract, she had to do what the writers and director wanted but that didn't mean she couldn't try to tell them otherwise.

The director chuckled, "Sure I can kill you off, shows do it all the time. And there will be a leading actress, it just won't be you."

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.

"We've already started holding auditions for the show's new leading lady. In other words, your replacement," he said. His phone rang and he shooed her out his office.

Ami walked through the studio still in shock. Today was her last day as a cast member of _Naruto _and it was by far the worst day of her life. She just lost her boyfriend and her job. _They can't do this to me. He can't do this to me!_ she thought bitterly as she left the set. However she knew it wouldn't be her last time here. She _would_ get her job back.

But first, she needed to find a way to makeup with Naruto again.

()()()

_"Ami_, _I promise. If it's the last thing I do, I _will_ bring Sasuke back to Konoha," Naruto vowed, tears still falling from his eyes. Ami let out her last breath, closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Naruto hugged her body close to his and silently sobbed._

Sakura gasped at her TV screen. "Ami, no..." she cried, tearing up herself. She was sitting on her couch watching the latest episode of _Naruto_ and she was shocked to say the least. Her phone rang and she dived for it in a flash already knowing who was calling her.

"_Can you believe it?!"_ yelled her friend Lee from the other line.

"I know! I can't believe Sasuke killed Ami! How could he?!" Sakura replied into the phone.

"_She loved him and yet he so ruthlessly ended her life short. It's unforgivable! And-"_

"Unyouthful?" Sakura said, already knowing her friend too well.

"_Indeed."_

"It is really sad though," Sakura said emotionally. "I didn't see that coming at all. What are they gonna do without Ami?"

Lee gasped. _"Oh yes! I almost forgot. I heard the show is casting for the new female lead. They are having auditions in major cities. I think Philadelphia is one of them."_

Sakura's eyes widened. "Are you serious?!" she yelled into the phone, her previous sadness forgotten.

The show was filmed in LA and yet they were having some of the auditions in Pennsylvania? She lived only 20 minutes away from Philadelphia and whether she had a chance or not she wanted to try it.

"_Most definitely. But I must go, so I will see you later. Goodbye,"_ Lee said.

"Bye," Sakura said back and hung up the phone. Ever since she was little she wanted to be an actress. She was always in her school's plays and local theatre productions. This was a chance too amazing to not at least give a shot at.

She went to her computer and searched for information on the auditions. Once she got to the site she looked at the was about previous references, personal info and such, but the main thing she needed to worry about was if her parents would even let her go to the auditions or not. They didn't really support her dream to be an actress.

Sakura ran upstairs to her parents' room where they were sitting on their bed, reading. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at them with an innocent smile on her face. Her father raised an eyebrow and set down his book. "Yes?"

She smiled at them as she spoke, "Can I go to an audition for a TV show?"

Her parents stared at her for a moment before her mother asked, "And what show would that be?"

"It's that _really_ popular ninja show that _everyone_ watches," she explained trying to hype up the show to her parents.

"I don't know...I hear that show is pretty violent," her mother said hesitantly.

Her father nodded. "Yes, I don't know if someone your age should be on a show like that."

Sakura groaned. "I'm 16 years old, it's not that violent. Come on, please! It wouldn't hurt to let me just tryout right?" she begged.

Both her parents looked at her cautiously. It was obvious they were reluctant in having her audition for the show. She gave them her puppy eyes and pouted in an attempt to try and sway them. Her father sighed, "Fine."

She beamed at him and gave them both a hug. "Thank you! You're the best parents ever!"

()()()

Naruto sat at a table with his friends/costars in a local LA restaurant, all of them in disguise. Sai was wearing sunglasses and had his hood up, Sasuke also wore sunglasses and a red backwards cap, and Naruto had on a Dodgers hat. He was currently on his third bowl of ramen while the other two just watched him in a mixture of amusement and disgust.

He stopped his slurping and saw the looks on their faces. "What?"

Sai just gave him a fake smile. "Nothing." And Sasuke just shook his head.

Naruto shrugged and finished his bowel. "Man, that was good," he said. But the ramen was only a temporary distraction from what was weighing down on his mind. He let his forehead hit the table.

"Naruto, you need to get over her," said Sasuke.

"He's right," Sai offhandedly said. "We knew it wouldn't last."

Naruto glared at the pale boy. "Shut up, Sai."

Sasuke hit Naruto over the head. "Come on, snap out of it. There was nothing else you could do. It's Ami's fault."

"What did she do?" asked Sai.

Naruto let out a long sigh but finally lifted his head. "When Ami found out she was going to be killed off, she gave me an ultimatum. Either I quit the show or we're over. I tried to convince the director to keep her, but he wouldn't let up. Everyone wanted Ami gone." He grabbed onto his golden locks and groaned. "How could she make me choose between her and the show?"

"That's why you're better off without her," insisted Sasuke. "Forget her. Besides, no one wants to keep hearing about your girl troubles."

"Yeah, yeah. Screw you too, Sasuke," Naruto started. "So where do you guys want to go next?"

"Oh my God! Look over there! It's Naruto Namikaze!" a girl screamed. "Did you hear that he just broke up with Ami Sato?"

"You mean he's single?"

"No way! So that must be Sasuke Uchiha and Sai with him!" yelled another girl from the other side of the diner.

The three boys sighed. They placed down their money, quickly jumped up from their seats, and left the establishment. Well ran from it. The girls started to give them chase until they finally gave up after a few blocks of running. Once the girls were out of sight the three TV stars stopped to catch their breaths.

Sasuke rubbed the back of his head as they walked down the sidewalk. "I hate coming down here," he grunted.

Naruto rolled his eyes at him. "It's not that bad. You're such an attention whore that you'd go crazy if someone _didn't_ know who you were."

Sasuke scowled at the blonde. Sai examined Naruto's clothes in response. "You know Naruto, you're the one who gives us away whenever we're out in public."

"What do you mean me?" he shot back.

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Wearing a shirt that says _I'm not Naruto_ isn't a disguise," he said pointing at Naruto's clothes. He was in fact wearing a black t-shirt that said _I'm not Naruto_ in big orange letters.

"Whatever," said the blonde as he put his hands behind his head. "This is our day off and I should be able to wear something other than orange jumpsuits," he paused for a second, "not that there's anything wrong with orange."

Sai furrowed his eyebrows. "We're off for the next two weeks, not just today. Didn't you know that?"

"Really?"

"Idiot," Sasuke mumbled, "they're looking for a new girl to replace Ami, remember?"

Naruto placed his thumb and index finger on his chin. "Oh yeah," he mused, "did they find anyone yet?" he inquired. The two raven haired boys shook their heads.

"Why did they fire her anyway?" Sai asked.

Sasuke smirked. "She kept picking fights with the crew. When she made her makeup artist run home crying the director had enough." Naruto shook his head and Sai gave an amused smile.

"A testament to Naruto's great taste in women, no doubt."

"I hate you both."

They continued walking down the streets of LA while trying to avoid crazed fans like they did everyday. It was an average day in their celebrity lives.

()()()

Sakura was sitting at home with her best friend, Lee. They were both watching movies in her room as a part of their Friday night routine. Sakura had went to the first auditions two weeks ago, and even made it to the callbacks last Wednesday. Unfortunately, that was when she blew it. She lost her temper a little and after that she totally panicked. They said they would call her to let her know if she got the role but she knew they weren't gonna call. Ever since then she'd been moping around her house and so Lee made sure to go over and try to cheer her up.

"Come on, Sakura! There is no need to be so down in the dumps!" Lee exclaimed. He was always very energetic, but Sakura didn't find his upbeat mood contagious.

She sighed. "Thanks, Lee," she said solemnly. She was sitting on her bed next to Lee, eating some ice cream. They were watching a rather bloody samurai movie which she had to make sure her parents didn't know about. Sakura's parents were very overprotective of her and it got really annoying after awhile. She knew they meant well but she just wished they'd back off sometimes.

But that was the least of what had her moping.

She couldn't help but keep thinking of her callback and how much she blew it just because she couldn't stay calm about something so small. And of course she would snap at the director before she actually got to do any acting.

_Sakura nervously walked into the casting room. There were two people sitting at a desk, a man and a woman. The moment she entered the room, she became self conscious by they way they were studying her, analyzing the way she walked with a natural bounce in her steps._

_The man—who must've been the director—spoke first. "We've already reviewed your papers, but we like to hear some things from you personally. So we're going to ask some questions about you and you will answer them truthfully."_

_Sakura didn't expect that, but she knew she should've seen that coming. She was supposed to be ready to answer any question the casting director could and would ask and now she wished she had prepared herself for that._

"_Okay," she said trying to sound as confident as she wished she was._

_The woman spoke this time. "Tell us your name, age, and some things about yourself."_

"_My name is Sakura Haruno, I'm 16 years old. I play tennis at my school, I get straight A's, and I like trivia and memorizing things," she said sounding much more comfortable._

_The director looked her up and down for a moment. "What's your height and weight?"_

"_Excuse me?" she asked._

"_These may sound like personal things that you might not wish to say out loud but if you were to get the role, you'd have to partake in various physical activities," explained the woman._

"_I-I'm 5 foot 2 inches and weigh 100 lbs," she said awkwardly. She knew she was a little on the small side but that wasn't a big deal was it?_

"_Are your eyes naturally green?" he asked next._

"_Yes," Sakura answered starting to sound a little more testy than nervous._

_And of course he asked _the question_. The question that everyone who knew Sakura knew not to ask. The forbidden question. "Why do you dye your hair pink?"_

_Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _Calm down, Sakura, _she told herself, _he doesn't know. _She did her best to keep the anger out her voice. "I don't dye it, it's my natural color."_

_The director scoffed, "You can't expect me to believe that _pink_ is your natural hair color."_

_She bit the inside of her cheek. "Well...it is."_

"_That's absurd."_

_That did it. She snapped. Reasonable Sakura had left the building and her psychotic inner had taken over. "Well excuse me for being a freak of nature but believe it or not, I was bor with pink hair! Sorry it defies what you think should and shouldn't be a hair color! Deal with it!" And the second those words came from her mouth she instantly regretted them. She just ruined any chance she had of being an actress on the show_.

_The two people looked at her with shock, both their eyes wide. They had not expected the—whom they assumed—meek girl to yell at them like that._

_The woman cleared her throat and continued to talk, "Right. Let's start with hearing some dialogue."_

Sakura groaned and fell backwards on her bed. "I am such an idiot," she said out loud. At that moment the phone rang. She got up from her bed slowly and dragged her feet to the phone. She picked it up and answered somberly. "Hello?"

Lee watched her with curiosity when her eyes widened and she squealed. She grabbed a piece of paper and started writing stuff down eagerly while still smiling into the phone. Once she hung up she looked at Lee and screamed. Good thing her parents were out. He covered his ears and squinted his eyes. "What? What is it?" he asked.

"I GOT THE PART! I'M GONNA BE ON _NARUTO_!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Lee's expression turned gleeful as well and he started jumping up and down with her. "That's fantastic! You shall be the most youthful person on television!" he cheered. He stopped though he was still smiling at her. "I thought you said you didn't do well?"

She was still beaming even though her cheeks started to hurt. "I thought I did but apparently the director liked my attitude. He said I showed real passion that he was looking for or something," she abbreviated.

Although now that she thought about it, she did read that the director, who was also one of the writers, liked to shape his characters around the actors, even naming the characters after them. Did that mean they would be using her name?

Sakura hugged Lee and then continued to jumped up and down joyfully. Tonight was the beginning of something great. Or so she thought.

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**And there you have it! First chapter! Hopefully you all see some potential in this so that I can get to the really good/fun stuff :)**

**Also, I'm aware Ami is kind of an obscure character, but I needed someone who is canonically a bitch and it works well because she only showed up once in Naruto. I don't like to character bash, so I didn't want to take a sympathetic character and twist them around for the story, nor do I like to create OCs.**

**So, please comment and tell me what you think. Depending on the amount of reviews I get will determine when I post the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey all! Thanks for the reviews, it's nice to see people like the story idea. Hopefully I'll be able to keep your guys' interest.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

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_Naruto, Sai, and Kakashi stood in front of their fallen teammate's memorial. They, as well as the other ninja of Konoha were dressed in black, all with their heads down. On the stone table were flowers and a picture of Ami. Unlike the Third Hokage's funeral, the sun was out and shining down on the fallen ninja._

_Naruto brought his arm up to his eyes to wipe away the stray tears. Kakashi looked solemnly at the stone table, even with only his right eye visible, his grief was apparent. Sai looked down at the ground. He didn't know what it was but he had a strange feeling and he didn't like it. Naruto and Kakashi had lost their teammate of almost four years and even though Sai was newer to the group, he still felt the loss. It was a sad day for Konohagakure._

Sakura wiped away the tears forming at her eyes. Next to her, Rin was dabbing away her tears with a tissue. Sakura and Rin were sitting in Rin's apartment watching the newest episode of _Naruto._ It had been a week since Sakura was cast as the female lead and tomorrow she was to start her first day of filming.

She was in LA and now living with her older cousin, Rin. At first she thought she wouldn't be able to do the show because of how her parents had reacted. She could remember how upset she was when they first told her she had to stay home.

_Sakura had just told her parents the series director and casting director chose her to be apart of the show. Both her parents' expressions were not what she expected though. They seemed...distressed?_

"_What's wrong? You guys aren't happy? I'm going to be on TV," she said._

_Her father looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry, honey, but you can't be on the show."_

_Sakura shot up from her seat at the dinning table. "What?!"_

_He continued, "We can't move all the way to Los Angeles just so you can be on a television show."_

_Sakura couldn't believe what they were saying. How could they do that? "Then why the hell did you let me audition if you weren't going to let me do the show?!" she yelled angrily._

"_Watch your tongue, young lady," her mother snapped. Her expression then softened. "To be honest...we didn't think you'd actually get the part."_

That had been a hard blow. Sakura had sat in her room for hours trying to figure out how she could get her parents to agree to let her on the show. It was then she remembered her cousin Rin lived in LA. After hours of begging and convincing she had gotten her parents to allow her to live with Rin on the condition that Rin didn't mind and if Sakura got in trouble she had to return straight home.

Luckily for Sakura, _Naruto_ was Rin's favorite show as well. They were watching Ami's funeral and it was, in their opinion, one of the saddest things they'd seen on the show, next to the Third Hokage's death and Sasuke leaving.

"I still can't believe Sasuke killed her," said Sakura, now recovering. "He's been such a bastard since he left," she stated to which Rin nodded her head in agreement.

Rin gave Sakura a big hug. "I still can't believe you're replacing Ami Sato on the show. Do you know what it's like to have your favorite cousin be on your favorite show?" she asked happily. Rin was ecstatic when Sakura asked to move in with her, and that was even before she knew that Sakura was going to be on the show.

Sakura giggled. "I'm you're only cousin."

Rin put her hands on her hips. "Very true. And I can actually brag to people at the hospital about it. As your guardian I can go to the studio," she said with a sly grin. "I have _got_ to meet that fine piece of ass, Kakashi Hatake."

Sakura couldn't judge, it was _the_ Kakashi Hatake after all. She was secretly excited to meet the incredibly handsome Sasuke Uchiha. Ever since the show started, she and Rin would gush about the more than attractive actors on the show, much to the annoyance of Obito. Which reminded her...

"Hey, Rin?" The brown haired woman looked to her. "When is Obito coming back?"

Obito was not only Rin's childhood friend, but also her current boyfriend for nearly ten years. They were living together. Obito had joined the military but his four years were about up and he was to be coming home soon. At first Sakura had given up coming on to LA when she heard that Obito and Rin were living together, but Rin insisted.

Rin smiled. "He'll be back next week."

"Does he know I moved in?" Sakura asked. She didn't want him not knowing and then be upset about her imposing on them. Although he wouldn't be mean about it, Obito was a really nice guy.

"Yup," Rin said as she smiled brilliantly. "And he was almost more persistent than me."

That was a relief. Sakura was excited to see Obito soon. She used to have a crush on him when she was little when Rin and Obito came to her house and visited when she was younger. While she no longer had a crush on him, she loved hanging out with the carefree man. Rin and Obito were like the older siblings she never had. She was almost as excited to see him as she was about the show tomorrow.

Rin looked at the calender on her fridge. It was Friday. She turned to the pink haired girl. "Sakura, you start at your new school on Monday right?" Sakura nodded. "And then you go to the set afterward?"

Sakura understood what she was getting at. "Yeah. After school on the set, they said they have us do our homework and study before we start working."

"Okay. Not that I should have to worry," she replied, "you're practically a genius anyway," Rin boasted.

Her eyes went from Sakura and over to her cousin's suitcases that were still full and sitting on the living room floor. They kind of just dropped everything and went to watch the show. "We should probably finish unpacking your stuff," she laughed.

()()()

In Naruto's large bedroom of the even larger Namikaze mansion sat Naruto and Sasuke playing video games. One would suspect after years of working on the show, the money added up, allowing the family to afford such a luxurious life style. That assumption would be wrong. Naruto's parents were quite wealthy before he ever started the show. Sasuke and his family had a similar case. His parents were filthy rich as well

"Hey, Sasuke, have you read the script yet?" Naruto asked as he kept his eyes glued to the giant flat screen.

"Hn," he said which Naruto knew meant _yes._

Naruto growled as Sasuke's player preformed a special attack on his, but continued what he was talking about. "You see the new girl's role?" Sasuke nodded. "What do you think?"

"I like it," he replied.

Naruto pouted. "But she hits me all the time."

Sasuke smirked. "My point exactly. I just hope the actual girl won't be another Ami, no offense."

"I'll admit she wasn't the easiest to work with," Naruto said. "But she was a really nice and fun person. With me anyway."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't the easiest to work with? She kicked me in the shin when I turned her down the first day of the show."

Naruto let out a chuckle. "Oh yeah. I remember that. So how's Hinata anyways?" Naruto asked, quickly changing the subject. This whole time neither of them had taken their eyes off the game.

"She's good. She's got some shoots tomorrow that I gotta pick her and some others up from before we meet up with you guys," he said as he just killed Naruto's player.

Naruto frowned and tossed his remote down. "Who do you have to pick up?"

"A few of the other models from the agency."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "And who's that again?" he laughed. "I always forget."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, then looked up at the ceiling to recall everyone Hinata mentioned. "Ino, Karin, and Suigetsu. Neji is shooting too but he has his own car and he's going somewhere. So I'm stuck with all of them."

"I don't see how Hinata can be a model. It like, goes against nature or something," said Naruto as he put his finger to his chin. "Models are stuck up, scary, and catty. And yet Hinata is the shyest and nicest person I've ever met."

The onyx eyed boy shrugged. Naruto got up and jumped onto his bed. He was wondering what the new girl was going to be like. The only thing that he knew about her was that she had never acted professionally before, which could be a problem if she had trouble on camera. But at this point, is biggest concern was trying to forget Ami. He wanted to stop sulking over his ex, but after two years of dating, he didn't think he could keep up the act of the guy who had no worries.

Sasuke's phone rang and he stood up from the floor. "I gotta go. See ya," he said lazily as he started walking out the room. "And don't forget, you told the others we're going out to lunch with them tomorrow," Sasuke reminded Naruto who just stuck his hand in the air showing him he heard. A few minutes after his friend left the silence was disturbed.

"Naruto! Get down here now!" he heard his mother's voice call from downstairs after a few minutes.

He ran through everything in his head that he could be in trouble for. There were only two. Either his report card just came in or he forgot to take out the trash. He hoped it was the latter. That could be easily resolved without much injury. His mom had a temper and if it was his report card, he was a dead man.

Naruto slowly walked down the stairs and into the large living room. His mother was sitting on the couch waiting for the young Namikaze. Kushina held out a piece of paper in front of her with a stern frown on her beautiful face. He walked up to his mom and gave her a weak smile.

"What's this?" she asked her son in a polite yet intimidating voice. Naruto looked at the paper and then held his head low.

"My report card," he mumbled.

"And what is on your report card?" she asked, again her tone polite and dangerous.

"Grades?" he said, trying to lighten up her mood. It wasn't working. Her hard look turned into almost a glare.

Minato came into the room in his usual cheerful mood. Naruto was a little bit relieved. His father always brought out the best in his mom and she might go easier on him. The man stopped and looked at Kushina's expression. "What's up?"

Kushina sighed. "Not our son's grades, that's for sure." Minato walked over and looked at the paper. "Two D's and a two F's," she said.

Minato looked it over. "He got one A," he said optimistically.

"Gym doesn't count!" she said, snatching the paper from him. The redhead then turned to her son. "Why aren't you doing your work?"

Naruto took this to try and defend himself. "Mom, I'm doing my work. I just keep failing my tests."

Minato crossed his arms. "Sorry, Naruto, but you remember what we said. School before anything else. If you can't get your grades up, you can't do the show anymore," he said seriously.

Naruto flashed his dad a look that screamed traitor. "I know, please give me one more chance," he begged, his hands together, "I'll get them up."

Minato put his index finger to hid chin. "All right." Kushina looked at him and raised an eyebrow at her husband. "On one condition," he quickly added upon seeing his wife.

Naruto's face went from lightened to worried again.

Kushina stood up and walked over to the young blond. "By the end of the next semester, excluding your gym class, all B's or higher."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. He knew what she was doing. "How about one B and three C's."

"B- and nothing less," Kushina replied.

"Two B's, two C's, and I get A's on at least two exams."

"...Deal."

Naruto smiled at his mom. She smiled back and ruffled up her son's hair. Minato laughed at the two. They were so much alike and didn't even realize it, though everyone else did. "Thanks, Mom," Naruto said as he walked back up the stairs.

He lucked out and he knew it. He sat in his room wondering how he was going to get his grades up. He just promised his mom that he would have two B's and two C's for his next report card, not to mention he had to get an A on two of his midterm tests. Four classes he needed to desperately improve in. Chemistry, English, algebra 2, and Euro history.

_Why the hell am I even taking that last one?_ he wondered.

Sasuke had all A's, but the Uchiha quickly lost his patience the last time he tried to help Naruto. Plus he didn't have all the same classes Naruto needed help with anyway. There was always Shikamaru who was a flat out genius, but he was too lazy to do his own work, let alone help someone else with theirs. Naruto pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes. _How am I going to pull this off?_ he asked himself.

Suddenly Kushina's voice resonated through the house. "Who the hell forgot to take out the trash?!"

()()()

Sakura sat in the passenger seat of Rin's car, on her way to the studio. She was nervous and excited at the same time. Excited because she was about to be an actual part of her all time favorite show and nervous because she was worried if her costars would like her or if she would like them. What if they were really stuck up in real life? No, she couldn't make assumptions about people she hadn't even met yet. She tried to not focus whether she'd get along with the others and turned on the radio. She turned it up and a song by the famous pop star Tenten came on. She was one of Sakura's favorite artists.

Before she knew it, they were at the studio. Sakura got out of the car and waved Rin goodbye as the young doctor drove off to the hospital where she worked.

After Sakura got past the front gate she walked down the many sets, looking for the one she was suppose to shoot at. She couldn't help but be awestruck by all the sets, themes, and people she was seeing. That was another thing she was going to have to work on. She didn't want to bother people by being starstruck all the time. After all, she would be going to a local school that apparently a lot of rich and famous kids attended and she wanted to keep a good image for those she would have to be around.

Sakura finally found where she was suppose to be. Her eyes widened at the sight. There were tons of different themes everywhere for the show. Before she could get too caught up, a woman with a clipboard came up to her. "Are you Sakura Haruno?" she asked.

She just nodded dumbly, a little frightened by the woman's urgency. The woman grabbed her arm and started dragging her as she talked. "Good, we need to get you to your trailer so we can get you in makeup and costume," the woman informed her. Sakura just followed the woman.

()()()

Naruto put on his orange and black jumpsuit, black headband, and black ninja shoes and walked over to the set. Sai was already there and dressed in his costume as well. Naruto may have thought his clothes were a little weird at one point, but he was always thankful it wasn't like Sai's which he thought made him look like a man-whore. Kakashi was also dressed and leaning casually against a wall. Sasuke didn't have work today so he wouldn't be there. Naruto looked around but didn't see anyone he didn't recognize meaning the new girl wasn't there yet.

"Gather 'round people!" the director called to the crew. Everyone walked up to him and waited patiently for him to speak.

Naruto walked up behind the crew, trailing behind. When he got there he saw next to the director was a girl who looked about Naruto's age. She was different than he imagined she would be. Less conventional than he suspected the director would go for, simply because Ami had already been a unique beauty with her purple asymmetrical hair.

The girl had stunning, bright pink hair that just past her jawline but didn't quite reach her shoulders. Her skin was milky white and she had dazzling pale green eyes. Her face was soft and angelic, even in the slightly nervous expression she was wearing.

He took a quick glance at her clothes which confirmed that she was indeed the new female lead. It was definitely something the costume designers made for the show. A red sleeveless Chinese style shirt and black shorts with a pink apron-skirt over them. Tall black high-heeled boots, a weapons pouch, black gloves, pink elbow guards, and to top it off, a red Konoha forehead protector on her head.

The director cleared his throat and gestured to the pink haired girl. "This is our new female lead for the show, Sakura Haruno," he said almost proudly. "Be nice and make her feel comfortable." The last sentence didn't sound as wholehearted though.

The crew walked away and the director walked over to his chair and quickly looked over the script. Naruto and Sai looked at each other, shrugged, and then made their way to her.

Sakura was still looking around and didn't really notice the two boys coming to her. She did, however, see Kakashi in the corner of her eye reading from an orange book. He had introduced himself to her just a few minutes before. She couldn't believe she was in the same room as Kakashi Hatake or even talked to him earlier, but was a little surprised about the book.

"Contrary to the popular belief, those smutty books aren't in the show as product placement. Kakashi really does read them," she heard a familiar voice tell her as if whoever spoke was reading her mind. She turned around and held in a gasp. Standing right in front of her was Naruto Namikaze and Sai. "Hi, I'm Naruto," the blond said.

"And I'm Sai," the other boy said with a real smile on his face instead of the fake ones she always saw on TV.

The two were more breathtaking in person. Naruto's lightly tanned skin made the spiky blond strands more luscious than they were onscreen. On each cheek were three scars that she thought was just makeup for the show but close up she could now see they were real.

Sai, on the other hand, was extremely pale and had short black hair that was only rivaled by his dark mysterious eyes. He did truly have a strange resemblance to Sasuke Uchiha even though they weren't related. Sai was taller than both Naruto and herself and she had to look up at him.

"Hi," she finally said breathlessly. She knew she would see them a lot and work with them but that didn't help her stay calm. Sakura thought she should try to say something else but before she could, the director called them to start the scene.

The nervousness went away and was replaced by determination. She wanted to make sure she did a good job and not look like a talentless idiot. One of the things Sakura was the most proud about herself was her talent at memorization. She was always the best at trivia because she could memorize anything.

She walked onto the setting that was the Team 7 training ground. She took her place next to Kakashi. "Action!" the director yelled.

Naruto crossed his arms and glared at Kakashi. "You're late!" he accused.

Kakashi just smiled under his mask and put his hand up. "Sorry, I had a brush with death walking across the bridge this morning and lost track of time," he said carelessly to which the orange clad ninja mumbled something like "liar" under his breath.

Sai looked at the pink haired girl standing next to their sensei. "Who is that?" he asked hollowly.

"I almost forgot. This will be the new edition to our team, Sakura," he said as he gestured his hand towards her. "She will be going on missions with us from now on."

()()()

Hinata sat in the passenger seat of Sasuke's car while Ino, Karin, and Suigetsu sat in the back seats. She was a little thankful she wasn't next to Ino at the moment. Ino was currently yelling and swearing at the top of her lungs at the news Sasuke had just shared. And Sasuke was currently regretting having told her anything. Hinata cringed as she heard the platinum blonde stomp her foot on the car floor.

Sasuke had enough. "Calm down and shut the hell up before I leave you in the middle of the road," he said in a low voice.

Ino stopped and crossed her arms. "But it's not fair. I mean, I knew Ami was kicked off of the show but I thought they would've realized their mistake and bring her back," she seethed.

"And to make it worse, she was replaced by a nobody," Karin added equally angered. Ino, Karin, and Ami were best friends and though none of them knew anything about this Sakura Haruno, they hated her as though she had stolen all of their boyfriends from under their noses. So they were not going to just let something like a nobody from Pennsylvania replacing their best friend slide.

"Even worse," Ino said, "poor Ami and Naruto broke up."

"What's the big deal? No one cares," Suigetsu said, not really seeing why they were being so dramatic about something so unimportant.

Karin hit him over the head and scolded him. "You don't know what you're saying. Ami must be going through the roughest time of her life right now."

Sasuke groaned. This was why he usually hated models. Out of all the models he's ever met—since he was asked to do shoots all the time—he's only met a few that didn't get on his nerves. Three to be exact. Hinata, Neji, and Suigetsu. He tried not to think about it at the moment though.

Hinata smiled weakly at him. She knew he hated giving them rides but they were her friends and she could never turn someone down when she was able to help. She looked at the time in the car to see it was still pretty early. In about two hours she and Sasuke were going to lunch with some friends.

"M-maybe she's not so bad. After all, someone had to take the role, r-right?" Hinata said quietly. "And if N-Naruto and Ami weren't happy, then maybe...it wasn't a bad idea for them to break up?"

Ino scoffed. "She still _stole_ Ami's part. And as for Naruto and Ami splitting, I'm sure it won't last long. He'll realize his mistake soon enough."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Ami was fired because of her attitude, which led her to force a decision unto Naruto which ended in him dumping her." It was a decision he hoped Naruto would stick to. As far as Ami's part, Sasuke had yet to meet the new actress but he was silently praying she was nothing like Ami, Ino, or Karin.

In truth, Ino and Karin originally weren't that bad. It wasn't until Ami's influence came into the picture that they morphed from slightly vain girls into a clique of catty bitches. It was enough to make Sasuke beg Hinata to stay away from the purple-haired nightmare. How Naruto couldn't see Ami for the soul-sucking monster Sasuke was positive she was, he had no clue.

"Ami and Naruto are in love. They'll pull through." Karin then made a suggestion, "Until then, I say we go meet this Haruno girl."

"That's a great idea," Ino exclaimed with a small grin. "We'll give her a nice, Hollywood welcome."

"Man, I feel sorry for her," Suigetsu muttered.

Sasuke pulled up to Ino's house and the three models in the back seat got out of the car. "Thanks for the ride, Sasuke!" Karin sang, causing Suigetsu to scowl.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Hinata," waved the blonde.

"See ya guys," drawled Suigetsu.

Hinata smiled and waved goodbye and Sasuke nodded to the boy before pulling out of the driveway.

()()()

Sakura was having an incredibly hard time getting her ninja shoes off. Sure, they looked simple enough to undo, but that was a huge misconception on her part. _Come on, Sakura, think. How did you get these things on?_ she said to herself, glaring at the gray boots.

She huffed and left her trailer. They were coming off on way or another. She walked around the set, hoping to jog an idea as to get the damned things off her feet. "Sakura?" a voice said from behind her.

Sakura swung around quickly to see Naruto staring at her with a small smile. He was dressed in his normal clothes, unlike her. "You're still in your costume," he stated.

_No shit,_ Sakura thought, thoroughly irritated with her stupid getup.

"Having trouble?"

"What? No, of course not," she lied with a big fake smile plastered in her face.

"Can't get the shoes off?"

"What the hell? Are these things bolted shut!" she complained, gesturing to her shoes. Naruto laughed and Sakura just realized she probably looked like an idiot who couldn't take off shoes. "Uh...never mind," she said as she was about to walk away.

"Hold up," Naruto called, "don't worry about it. Everyone has that same problem their first day." She stopped and let out a small sigh of relief. Maybe she didn't seem so stupid after all. "Here. I'll show you how to get them off," he offered.

She sat down in a chair next to the set's snack table as Naruto held her foot. He undid the straps one by one until the shoe was completely off. It was an odd scene playing in front of her. Naruto, one of the biggest young celebrities in Hollywood was on his knee, taking off her shoes. It didn't make sense.

Once he got the shoes off, Sakura had to look away to hide the small blush she felt coming. "Thanks."

They stood and Sai appeared, wearing his street clothes. "Naruto, some stuff came up. I can't make it to lunch with you and the others."

"Aw man," Naruto groaned, "so it'll be just me? Now I'm going to be the third wheel." He never had to worry about being a third wheel when he was with Ami.

Great, now he was thinking about Ami again. _Get over her, you idiot. It's over. You ended it!_

Sai shrugged. "Sorry." He turned to Sakura. "Nice meeting you."

She nodded and waved as he left the set. Naruto was scratching the back of his head, mumbling something incoherent. His eyes drifted to Sakura. Maybe...? "Sakura, how about you come to lunch with me and some friends?"

"That's very nice, but I don't think I can. I mean, we don't know each other and I don't know any of your friends and-"

"Nonsense. It'll be fine," the blond insisted, leaning closer to her face. "Sasuke will be there and you should meet him now since he won't be on set for the next few days."

Sakura paused at that. She really wanted to meet the Uchiha. He had been her celebrity crush since the show first started when she was 12. There was no way she could pass up a chance to meet Sasuke Uchiha, even if it was just a few days early of when she'd meet him on set. She smiled at Naruto. "All right."

* * *

**So here you are! Next chapter, Sakura meets some familiar faces and will have an interesting run in with a certain ex-girlfriend...**

**Reviews feed my soul which keeps me writing :) So please review!**


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